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Monday, September 24, 2018

Et in Synarchia ego

“The Sion Revelation” is a book by Lynn
Picknett and Clive Prince, most known for their roller coaster book “The
Stargate Conspiracy”, a strange mixture of the bizarrely true and the merely
bizarre. (Those interested in the UFO-USAF-CIA connections should also consult
John Romson's “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and Nick Redfern's “Final Events”.)
By contrast, “The Sion Revelation” is slightly less bizarre, and I sometimes
get the impression that the authors are chasing shadows and fake mysteries
which might be given more mundane explanations – which doesn't necessarily mean
everything is alright, of course. The mundane machinations of the rich and
powerful might be just as scary as those of hooded cultists with secret
handshakes…

“The Sion Revelation” discusses the speculations found
in “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” by Baigent-Leigh-Lincoln, speculations later
repacked by Dan Brown in his widely (and wildly) successful novel “The Da Vinci
Code”. The short form is that Picknett and Prince reject most claims made by,
or on behalf of, the so-called Priory of Sion and its elusive Grand Master
Pierre Plantard. However, they believe that Plantard and the Priory *did* play
an important role in various political and occult scheming, and that the
implications may be disturbing indeed.

I think Picknett and Prince does a good job locating
Plantard's group in a broader context of French (and sometimes German)
esotericism, with roots going back to at least the 18th century. It's a
bewildering milieu of ritual magicians, “Templar” Freemasons, Rosicrucians,
Mesmerists and mediums. Politically, this milieu was to a large extent
monarchist and far right, and many participants claimed to be good, traditional
Catholics. Yet, their interpretation of Catholicism was frequently
idiosyncratic. I'm tempted to call this milieu “Catholic occultist” or words to
that effect. Even the bizarre suicide cult Order of the Solar Temple belongs to
this milieu, and had many ideas in common with it.

The authors believe that at least some of these groups
(including Plantard's Priory) were secret heretics, and actually believed that
John the Baptist rather than Jesus was the true Christ, Jesus being an
apostate! They dub this the “Johannite” heresy. There is a peculiar religious
group in Iraq which actually holds this belief, the so-called Mandeans. Judging
by the authors' account, at least one “Templar” group in France openly held
this belief, too, before they changed position (or stopped preaching it in
public). In its Masonic form, the Johannite heresy also includes veneration of
Mary Magdalene, claimed connections to the Knights Templar, and an obsession
with all things Egyptian. (And, I suppose, veneration of a severed head –
“bring me the head of John the Baptist”. Note that Baphomet could be
interpreted as a word play on Baptist and Mahomet.) It may also include sex magic.
The authors apparently believe that Jesus and Mary Magdalene really were
married and sired children. I don't.

Unless I misunderstood them, L Picknett and C Prince
believes that Johannitism might be the solution to the mystery of
Rennes-le-Château. Father Saunière might have been a Johannite heretic, which
explains a thing or two about the peculiar Church decorations. It's less clear
where he got all his money from, though!

Picknett-Prince makes a connection between the occult
underworld of France and synarchism, a political movement of an elitist and
fascistic character. Synarchism was developed by an occultist, Alexandre
Saint-Yves d'Alveydre, and soon became a staple of many secret societies in
France. Before World War II, the synarchists joined the far right. When France
fell to Hitler's Germany, the synarchists joined Marshal Petáin's
collaborationist Vichy government. Plantard may have been one of them – the
authors believe that he really did have powerful backers during the war years,
enabling him to publish a well-produced magazine in Nazi-occupied Paris. When
it became obvious that the Nazis were going to lose the war, many former Vichy
supporters switched their allegiances to the Allies. So did the synarchists.
The authors also argue that Plantard's group played a relatively important role
in the dramatic events which led to General De Gaulle becoming French president
in 1958.

One of the main planks of the synarchist program is the
creation of a united Europe. The EEC and the EU in a very real sense grew out
of the esoteric speculations of French secret societies! They mention
Eurafrica, but not the “race mixing” often attributed to Count
Coudenhove-Kalergi. Too hot? The last chapter contains many damning allegations
against French socialist president Francois Mitterrand, who collaborated with
Vichy during the war years, and was steeped in occultism. Guess who built the
famous glass pyramid showed in the closing scene of the film “The Da Vinci
Code”? The authors presumably believe that Mitterrand (the architect of the
Maastricht Treaty) was a closeted synarchist…

My problem with the above is mostly that powerful
elites are always organized and, almost by definition, elitist. Thus, it
doesn't come as a big surprise that the EU is the projection of great power
dreams of a relatively narrow cabal. Nor is it surprising that the elite
secretly despises democracy and the hoi polloi. What is more disturbing is the
occult connection, especially if the authors are right about mediumship and sex
magic being practiced in elite circles. Are we to believe that the architects
of the “united Europe” are actually seeing ghosts and hearing voices…? (Perhaps
that *would* explain a few things.) Of course, a more mundane explanation would
simply be that some rich folk like to dress up funny. Trafficking can also be
given perfectly “secular” explanations (secularly evil, obviously). That being
said, “The Sion Revelation” might nevertheless be of some interest even to
people not steeped in a conspiracist worldview, such as cult-watchers or
fascist-watchers.

A final complaint. It's Upper Lusatia or Oberlausitz,
not Haute-Lusace.